As the heart of College Station bustled with the traffic of families and friends gathering for Ring Day and concert-goers preparing for Chilifest, No. 2 Texas A&M women’s tennis was busy hosting No. 73 Mississippi State at the Mitchell Tennis Center.
Another external factor rolled in early Friday morning in the form of dark clouds and inclement weather, preventing doubles play. Fortunately for the red-hot Aggies, the change in scenery only sped up A&M’s dominant 4-0 sweep over the Bulldogs, as they moved on to their fifth straight win and sixth sweep of conference play.
Despite the gameday change, coach Mark Weaver had the Maroon and White focused and ready.
“Taking care of business was the saying for today, and I thought we did that,” Weaver said. “To be able to finish the team match in roughly an hour and a half is exactly what we wanted. Sunday’s match perhaps will be indoors, but rain or shine, the Aggies will be ready to go.”
On Court 1, No. 2 senior Mary Stoiana set the tone from the get-go, serving up a 6-0, 6-1 win over freshman Carolina Troiano for the match’s first point. The singles sweep moves her to 21 victories on the season as well as her fourth in a row.
Freshman Lexington Reed followed in the senior’s wake, defeating fellow freshman Emma Cohen on Court 5, earning a point with a 6-0, 6-2 win for her fourth straight win. Just a couple minutes later, A&M secured its third point of the match as junior No. 88 Daria Smetannikov beat sophomore Athina Pitta on Court 4, 6-1, 6-2. With her 26th win, she is tied for the most victories on the team.
Though the Bulldogs were close to earning their first points from Courts 2 and 3, junior Lizanne Boyer claimed the winning point on Court 6 as she closed out sophomore Ava Rath 6-1, 6-4 for her first win in conference play.
“Overall, I’m pleased with the group,” Weaver said. “There was a different feel with the early morning, 10 o’clock, match, and starting with singles first changed things up just a bit. Mississippi State played really well on a few positions, but overall, we took care of business.”
Next up, A&M will travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Sunday, April 6, for a showdown against the struggling No. 33 Alabama Crimson Tide, which has six in a row.
